Auto-Aware Dynamic Control Policy for Energy Efficiency

1. An energy efficiency method performed by a discovery node in a network, comprising: controlling, via an energy efficiency control policy operating in said discovery node, transitions between an energy saving state and an active state of one or more components in said discovery node that support a network link, said energy efficiency control policy receiving as a first input a first measure of a level of utilization of said network link, wherein said energy saving state of said one or more components has a reduced power consumption and reduced data transmission rate as compared to said active state of said one or more components; transmitting, from said discovery node, discovery traffic to each of a plurality of network nodes that are remote from said discovery node; generating a second measure of current network performance for each of said plurality of network nodes based on a plurality of reply messages received from said plurality of network nodes in response to said transmitted discovery traffic; and adjusting an effect of said energy efficiency control policy on said one or more components in said discovery node based on a second input based on said second measure of current network performance for each of said plurality of network nodes.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising measuring a condition of a port, queue, or buffer in said discovery node to generate said first measure.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein said controlling comprises placing at least part of a physical layer device in said discovery node in a low power state.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said controlling comprises placing at least part of a media access control device in said discovery node in a low power state.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein said transmitting comprises transmitting a message that enables a determination of latency of a remote network node.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said transmitting comprises transmitting a message that enables a determination of a responsiveness of a remote network node.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein said transmitting comprises transmitting a message that enables a determination of an upload or download speed of a remote network node.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein said transmitting comprises transmitting a message that enables a determination of jitter in latency of a remote network node.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein said transmitting comprises transmitting at periodic intervals.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting said second measure of current network performance for each of said plurality of network nodes to one or more switch nodes separate from said discovery node.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein said adjusting comprises adjusting a level of aggressiveness of said energy efficiency control policy, wherein said adjustment includes an adjustment to a length of a timer that controls at least part of said transitions.

12. An energy efficiency method performed by a discovery node, comprising: transmitting, from said discovery node, first discovery traffic to each of a first plurality of network nodes, said first discovery traffic designed to test a first level of current network performance of a first type of network traffic; transmitting, from said discovery, node, second discovery traffic to each of a second plurality of network nodes, said second discovery traffic designed to test a second level of current network performance of a second type of network traffic different from said first type of network traffic; generating a first measure of current network performance for each of said first plurality of network nodes based on first reply messages received from said first plurality of network nodes in response to said transmitted first discovery traffic; generating a second measure of current network performance for each of said second plurality of network nodes based on second reply messages received from said second plurality of network nodes in response to said transmitted second discovery traffic; and adjusting an energy efficiency control policy in said discovery node based on said first and second measures of current network performance, said energy efficiency control policy controlling transitions between an energy saving state and an active state of one or more components in said discovery node, wherein said energy saving state of said one or more components has a reduced power consumption and reduced data transmission rate as compared to said active state of said one or more components, wherein said adjusting comprises adjusting a level of aggressiveness of said energy efficiency control policy through an adjustment of a length of a timer that controls at least part of said transitions.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein said transmitting comprises transmitting messages designed to measure network performance of transmission of voice over IP data.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein said transmitting comprises transmitting messages designed to measure network performance of transmission of video data.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein said transmitting comprises transmitting messages designed to measure network performance of transmission of data having a particular quality of service level.

16. The method of claim 12 , wherein said energy efficiency control policy is also based on a measure of a level of utilization of a network link supported by said discovery node.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising determining said level of utilization based a measure of a condition of a port, queue, or buffer in said discovery node.

18. An energy efficiency method performed by a discovery node in a network, comprising: controlling, via an energy efficiency control policy operating in said discovery node, transitions between an energy saving state and an active state of a physical layer device in said discovery node that supports a network link, said energy efficiency control policy based at least in part on a level of utilization of said network link, wherein said energy saving state of said physical layer device has a reduced power consumption and reduced data transmission rate as compared to said active state of said physical layer device; and adjusting a level of aggressiveness of said energy efficiency control policy based on measures of current network performance of a plurality of network nodes that are remote from said discovery node, said measures of current network performance based on reply messages generated by said plurality of network nodes in response to discovery messages designed to test a responsiveness of said plurality of network nodes, wherein said adjustment of said level of aggressiveness includes an adjustment to a length of a timer that controls at least part of said transitions.

19. The method of claim 18 , further comprising receiving said measures of network performance from a discovery node.